Sarah Palin's abrupt decision to step down as governor of Alaska has left many people on both sides of the aisle scratching their heads.

Palin has successfully survived fifteen ethics complaints. Her Lt. Governor, Sean Parnell who will succeed her at the end of this month, said Sunday that "she has plenty of time now within which to define how she will further her core values."

Her announcement leaves open the possibility that she will run for higher office. Some on the right, such as William Kristol of the Weekly Standard, have said her move was 'crazy like a fox', and that this will be the launching pad for a GOP presidential bid.

The reasoning that putting the distractions of her current office behind her to concentrate on a higher calling doesn't wash with some, however, who believe that she will be viewed as a quitter. Others have said that if she believes that resigning the governorship will help her to avoid further scrutiny, she is sadlymistaken. Mike Huckabee, appearing on Fox News Sunday, said "it could be a brilliant strategy. The point is we don't know. It's risky in that there's no forgone conclusion as to whether it will play out."

Palin is a polarizing figure in American politics. She has a huge fan base, who like her spunk, her down-to-earth attitude and her common sense approach to the issues.

But she has her detractors who view her as less than competent. Quin Hillyer, in a piece in the American Spectator, wrote that "Sarah Palin's resignation is an appalling dereliction of duty and a highly cynical move to set herself up for a presidential run for which she is manifestly unqualified."

It is highly doubtful that Palin's resignation means that she is retiring from public life. More than likely, it is probably a move meant to keep her popularity as a national figure high, even as her popularity within her own state continues to decline.

The issue of whether she should have finished out her term as governor before launching a campaign for higher office is the one that has people talking. If she was afraid that running for a second term as governor and losing would make her damaged goods as a presidential candidate, she could have simply chosen to sit out the next gubernatorial election. But why quit in the middle of here first term? We don't know the answer to that question yet. But if indeed she has aspirations for higher office, her move may prove to be a risky one.

Listen to America Talks Monday through Friday at 6 pm eastern time at www.blogtalkradio.com/americatalks. Visit our website at www.americatalks.com.

Tells me we have people who are not really conservative but pretend to be, 3rd party types who want the GOP to fail, moles from the DemocRATs, naive people, and/or are loyal to other potential candidates like Romney or Huckabee.

Was actually shocked at the amount of names I collected last night of the anti-types. More then I have ever collected at one time in the past. This is a brand new list I started last night. I don’t want to waste my time looking up what they said before if I don’t remember their screen name. Kind of like a cheat sheet.

Fine with me, so long as the community to which she chooses to provide (much needed) organization is the “Republican Community!” She’ll need that experience to succeed with HER congress after she wins the Presidency. Start Palinizing the Congress in 2010 and by halfway through her first term even all the Senate will have either run with, or against, her. Having changed two branches of government her new allies can then start removing the most egregious examples from the third branch.

For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil. The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children. (Mat 11:18-9)

When I was a mod on conservative forums elsewhere, I refused to tolerate these types, and would lock them out with regularity.

There's a real difference between someone who has an honest difference of opinion than the majority of the regulars, and someone who is covertly looking to destroy the group morale, or to attack conservatives from the left.

I can handle people who only want to have an honest discussion, and have never locked them out for simply disagreeing.

But, a person's posting habits will reveal whether they have an agenda or not. It takes a bit of work to do that sort of investigative mod work, but it pays off in a much more civilized community.

46
posted on 07/05/2009 9:19:27 PM PDT
by Windflier
(To anger a conservative, tell him a lie. To anger a liberal, tell him the truth.)

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